Red Bluff crushes Central Valley in football opener 40-8

SHASTA LAKE &GT;&GT; The Spartans defense was as good as advertised in the season opener Friday, scoring twice and shutting down the hosts Central Valley Falcons in a 40-8 Red Bluff win.

But it was the offense that set the tone of the game on the first series.

Kade Lewis hooked up with Wyatt Clement over the middle and the big Spartans tight end refused to be tackled taking it in from 50 yards out to open up the scoring.

The deep middle was open all night for Lewis, who finished 10-for-14 passing for 158 yards and two touchdowns, and often kept his eyes down field as he bought time with his mobility.

"It was nice it see Kade move around a little bit and it makes the defense decide who they want to defend and what they want to do. It obviously turned into a lot of long throws for him today," head coach Corey Hein said.

Lewis took just one snap in the second half, a handoff on an end around that Aaron Lyon took in from 44 yards out to make the game 40-0 at the time.

Lyon also scored one of the Spartans two defensive touchdowns. He put the exclamation point on the first half when he picked off a Kyle Seaman pass and raced down the same left sideline he would later on his rushing touchdown.

"We were flying around on defense like we expected, fast on the edges. We just like what we today, it was a good luck for us," Lyon said.

He also caught three balls for 20 yards.

Lyon's score came just one play after Lewis had hooked up with Walker Dodero from a yard out to make it 27-0.

It was only fair Dodero's number was called, as he hauled in a 24-yard pass from Lewis a play earlier before being dragged down just before the Central Valley goal line.

Dodero finished with four receptions and 82 yards, like Lewis all of his stats coming in the first half.

KJ Hinkston added a 55-yard rushing touchdown as the Spartans had a balanced 152 rushing yards to go with the 158 through the air.

The other touchdown came from lineman Justin Nunez, who showed why he's being recruited for college football.

Nunez stood up a ball carrier to strip him before picking up the ball himself and jaunting in from 20 yards out.

""It was pretty impressive. That's what we say about him, he's a good athlete," Hein said.

Nunez and the Spartans defense held Central Valley to just 104 offensive yards. The Falcons converted just one of eight third down attempts and were 0-for-3 on fourth down.

Nearly half of that came on Central Valley's first play of the game a 42-yard hook up between Seaman and Garrett Best.

Most of the rest came on the Falcons' lone scoring drive of the game. Central Valley went 45 yards capped by a Seaman 2-yard keeper to put the Falcons on the board.

Next up for the Spartans is their home opener against West Valley, which slipped by Foothill 23-15 Friday.

West Valley beat Central Valley for last year's Division 2 title.

It's also the alma mater for Hein.

"It's an exciting game for us," he said. "You know it's kind of a natural rivalry. A lot of our kids went to school at Evergreen or in the Cottonwood area and so it's just a natural rivalry. They have a great program, great coaches and I look up a lot to what those guys have built up there."

Now it falls on to Hein's Spartans to build on their successful opener.